Line app tops 400 million users

TAIPEI -- The number of people using mobile messaging service Line has reached 400 million worldwide and over 17 million in Taiwan alone, the service's developer said Wednesday.

The service provider added another 100 million registered users in just 126 days, 1 day shorter than it needed to go from 200 million to 300 million users, the developer said in a statement.

It has added up to 1.7 million new users a day since attaining the 300-million-user milestone on Nov. 25, according to the company.

The number of registered users in Taiwan, however, has remained relatively flat since last November.

Asked if Taiwan's market is saturated, Line Taiwan said that the number of users has actually continued to grow as the number of mobile devices here rises.

“Line will also keep an eye on Taiwan's market and continue to provide diverse services to meet users' needs,” the company said.

In addition to Taiwan, Thailand, Japan, India, Indonesia and Spain, the countries that have over 1 million registered users now include the United States, South Korea, Malaysia and Mexico, it said.

Daily text messages sent via Line has reached as many as 10 billion, while over 12 million free calls using the system are made a day, the developer said.

Akira Morikawa, chief executive officer of Line Corp., expressed delight at hitting the 400-million-user milestone, and said the company expected to reach 500 million users within 2014.

“Line aims to further its growth and become the world's top communications infrastructure, taking on many new challenges along the way,” he said, noting that the level of competition in the global communications app market has become fiercer than ever.

Launched in June 2011, Line, which allows users to enjoy free calls and messages as well as video calls, needed just 399 days to reach the 50 million user mark, compared with 1,096 days for Twitter and 1,325 days for Facebook.